Mikel Arteta has admitted that Nuno Tavares was lucky not to give away more goals than the one he did during Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool at the weekend.
Mistake ridden
Arteta was asked about Tavares’ display by BBC Sport after the contest.
The Arsenal summer signing has generally performed very well since arriving from Benfica, but his latest display showed what a steep learning curve he has ahead of him.
The rapid full-back is still very raw, and Liverpool exploited that on numerous occasions.
His worst error came when he presented possession to Diogo Jota, who showed great composure to slot home Liverpool’s second of the match, in their 4-0 win.
But it could have been worse for Tavares, by Arteta’s own admission.
He said: “Mistakes are part of football for kids and grownups! You don’t want to make mistakes, you play a different sport.
“Unfortunately he cost us a goal and he could have cost us more. But we move on.”
A bad call?
Arteta can hardly be blamed for picking Tavares, as he had been in such good form of late.
But the Spanish boss may well be regretting not selecting the more experienced Kieran Tierney now.
Tierney has been a reliable figure for Arsenal and surely will come back into contention after Tavares’ rocky display.
The Gunners’ defeat at Anfield has brought to an end their 10 match unbeaten run and halted some of their momentum.
Arsenal have still had a positive time of late though and will be looking to bounce back from their latest defeat when they take on Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium next weekend.
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